Motherhood As A Rite Of Passage with Kari Azuma

On this episode I chat with Kari Azuma, a coach and a mother who you may remember me mentioning on episode three, as the facilitator of the Threshold Retreat that Estelle and I embarked on last year.

Kari has been such a powerful mentor for me on all things motherhood, reconnecting me with the sacredness and ceremony of this transition that our society fails to create space for. The way she brings her leadership experience and roots in rites of passage to the motherhood experience is something I believe every mother should benefit from, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show.

A bit about Kari:

Since 2010, Kari Azuma has been blessed to coach board members of influential companies, entrepreneurs, coaches, and leaders in the health and wellness sectors.

It wasn’t until suffering from postpartum depression and a full-blown identity crisis after the birth of her son in 2015, that she decided to dedicate her life’s work to coaching mothers on leadership development and overcoming stress and overwhelm through powerful self-realization.

She works with mothers through social media, private sessions, and her elite group-coaching model, Empowered Mothers Alliance. Her latest love endeavor, Threshold, is a retreat that was born from her roots in rites of passage work. This immersive, in-person experience allows mothers to powerfully reclaim their identity through releasing shame, expectations and lineage patterns, freeing themselves to design the lives of their choosing as women and mothers.

Through Kari’s work with mothers and expectant mothers, she hopes to fulfill on her mission to create a legacy of empowered mothers, leading the next 7 generations.

In this episode we chat about:

How Kari came to do this work and her traumatic entry into motherhood

The importance of knowing ‘what’ to grieve as you enter motherhood, not just ‘how’.

The importance of rites of passage for creating space for new possibility

Why motherhood is one of the most potent leadership roles in humanity

Why preparing for the threshold of motherhood is so key, and the deficit we create with our expectations without this preparation

The ripple effect of cultivating a practice of healing our ancestral lineage

The importance of connecting with both grief and celebration during our motherhood experience

The power of doing personal development surrounded by fellow mothers

Breaking free from the perpetual desire to do motherhood as the lone wolf

I will also mention that throughout the interview we mention Kari’s Soul Course for pregnant women and new mothers, which was scheduled to run later this month. This course is no longer happening, however you can find Kari’s next Threshold retreat here.